Music scene: Concert to benefit hurricane relief

Thursday

Oct 26, 2017 at 4:39 PMOct 26, 2017 at 4:42 PM

By Jay N. Miller/For The Patriot Ledger

All of America has been saddened to see the devastation left in the wake of hurricanes in Houston, Florida, and the Caribbean. But right in the middle of all that, a previous hurricane had also flattened much of the Virgin Islands, and that situation has been out of the spotlight a bit. But not for Brockton native Susie Cullen, who has been devoting much of her time and energy to helping out the American Virgin Islands recover.

On Nov. 5, Cullen is the driving force behind a day-long benefit concert at to raise money for those efforts. The concert takes place at Raynham Park’s Promenade Room and features five of the most popular rock and blues bands from the region.

“My mom was born in St. Thomas, so half my family is from there,” Cullen said. “As soon as the storm hit the American Virgin Islands, I began looking for ways to contact family members.” Days went by before she heard anything. “There were transformers in St. Thomas and St. Croix, I guess, but only a certain amount of connectivity each day – a few hours early in the morning, and again late at night. I kept at it and was able to ask questions and eventually locate my cousins, and link other family members on Facebook.”

As the depth and scope of the islands’ destruction became apparent, Cullen said she became determined to help. She’s built a network of many friends after her long career as a hair stylist, all over the South Shore. Cullen works as a mobile stylist, meeting clients in Marshfield, Hanover and Rockland among other stops, and also being based several days a week out of a salon in Rochester. She’s also been a longtime music fan.

“Some of the people I contacted down there had lost their homes, their businesses, had their roofs torn off,” said Cullen. “It was horrible hearing all those stories, and how many of them lacked power for days and days. I was very torn up by all those emotions. I began researching local charities down there. I did not want to go through the government, so we could get funds to the people more quickly.”

After some serious research, Cullen found My Brother’s Workshop, through their Facebook page. Normally they’re a school that helps troubled kids transition to a normal life, but since the hurricanes, they’ve become a relief hub of sorts, coordinating with the St. Thomas Reformed Church, and providing meals and relief supplies to upwards of a thousand people a day. Their efforts have been so successful in St. Thomas, that they are now sending people and supplies to other islands and helping their recovery, too.

“One thing people don’t understand is that many people down there can’t even go to work,” Cullen said. “The businesses they work at are just gone, wiped out. As a result many of them have no money, and it will take time to get them back on their feet. And, right after they were hit, the next hurricane hit Puerto Rico badly, so all the attention turned to that. But there were a lot of islands affected by the several hurricanes, and they are all suffering.

Cullen continued: “Why I got involved with this is simple – my family is from this island.”

And so, after a plethora of phone calls, Cullen put together the benefit concert in the 300-capacity venue with full food and drink service. Graphic artist Beau McGrath of Imagine-Nation designed and donated a colorful poster, and the project gained momentum. Tickets are sold through advance sales only, for $25, and details are below, or at the USVI Rise Facebook page.

It is an impressive lineup, with the doors opening at 1 p.m., when guitarist Josh Beetler will be playing some acoustic tunes to warm everyone up. The bands will be playing one-hour sets. The Stoughton-based band Mojo takes over at 2 p.m., followed at 3 p.m. by the Quincy/Braintree rock ’n’ blues outfit Soul Box, then the Gregg Miller Group with the Braintree guitar wizard exploring rock, blues and jazz, and then a blues jam featuring musicians from several groups at 5 p.m. After that the Hanson-based U2 tribute band The Joshua Tree takes over, and they’ll also be performing some songs from their new Tom Petty project. Finally the headliners at 7 p.m. are Danny Klein’s Full House, the rockin’ outfit fronted by the bassist from the J.Geils Band.

Klein said he was happy to lend a hand. “I don’t have a lot of money, but I do have a lot of time, so I said, ‘Sure, we’ll do it.”

After the Geils band went on hiatus, Klein said he didn’t want to hang up his bass.

“I had a previous band, Stone Crazy, where we went out touring with (blues guitarist) Debbie Davies,” Klein explained. “I did that for about 10 years, and had moved to Pittsburgh at one point. Then when I came back to the Boston area, I started playing a few charity events with various players, and one in particular with James Montgomery that really got me going. People asked why I didn’t do a Geils Band-type thing, since that band wasn’t together. So we started out, and it must be 10 years now. That music wasn’t being played and so people were hungry for it. Now when the Geils Band has reunions every couple years or so, I go back and forth. I refer to the J. Geils Band now as ‘my other band.’”

Stoughton’s Mojo is a band formed in 2013 by some local music veterans who wanted to focus on playing their favorite classic rock and blues. Singer/guitarist Chuck Giambusso did not know Cullen, but when he heard about the event through other musicians, he knew his band would want to be on board.

“We jumped at it,” said Giambusso. We play anything from B.B. King, Howlin’ Wolf, and the J.Geils Band music to The Rolling Stones, and Joe Walsh, all high-energy classic rock like we grew up on. We play quite a few local clubs, The Last Shot in Stoughton, The Riviera Cafe in Bridgewater, The Trackside in East Bridgewater, The Sandbar in Taunton, and Pete’s Grille in Quincy.”

Giambusso noted that his band had played the old Beachcomber in Quincy also, before it closed, which was especially meaningful to him. “My dad played at The Beachcomber in the 1960s,” he said. “He’s a horn player, and was with some jazz and pop bands in that era, and played with a lot of good people, like Blood Sweat and Tears. So playing there was a real kick for me.”

Mojo includes Stoughton’s Marty Swartz on bass, Randolph’s Bob Rushlow on drums, and Quincy’s Bobby Alfano on keyboards, and on that Nov. 5 show they’ll also have a guest vocalist, Stoughton’s Cidilia America.

To purchase a ticket, make a $25 donation online at mybrothersworkshop.org. Your receipt will serve as a ticket. Or send a check payable to USVI RISE to Susan Cullen, c/o USVI RISE, P.O. Box 633, East Freetown, MA 02717